Cigarette having distinct tobacco fillers with inert, porous, noncombustible element interposed therebetween

ABSTRACT

The multi-sectioned cigarette includes an elongate, open-ended, tubular wrapper defining the draw end and outer end of the cigarette. The wrapper contains a first tobacco filler comprising a blend of tobaccos having a reduced amount of tar producing substances and nicotine adjacent the outer end of the cigarette, and a second tobacco filler comprising a blend of flavored tobaccos adjacent the draw end thereof. An inert, noncombustible, porous element transversely spans the interior of the tubular wrapper intermediate the first and second tobacco fillers.

US. APatent oct. 21, 1975 CIGARETTE HAVING DISTINCT TOBACCO FILLERS WITHINERT, POROUS, NONCOMBUSTIBLE ELEMENT INTERPOSED THEREBETWEEN BACKGROUNDOF INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The present invention is relatedto that class of cigarettes wherein a plurality of the tobacco fillersare placed in end-to-end spaced relationship, each filler comprising adistinct blend of tobaccos. Specifically, the invention is directed to aself-extinguishing cigarette wherein that portion of the tobacco fillerwhich is burned while the cigarette is being smoked has been treatedwhereby the smoke derived therefrom is substantially free of tars,nicotine and other injurious and /or carcinogeneous constituents andthat portion of the tobacco filler which is not burned, but is incontact with the mouth and lips of the smoker, is pure or untreated,allowing the smoker to enjoy the taste and bite of an unfilteredcigarette containing pure tobaccos without appreciably increasing thehazards of cigarette smoking.

2. Description of the Prior Art Often, tobaccos for use with cigarettesare treated to eliminate a substantial quantity of the tars and nicotinewhich have been found to have a deleterious effect on smokers. Whilesuch removal is advantageous from the standpoint of health, the cleansedtobaccos have resulted in a reduction in the quality and taste of thecigarette. By incorporating a filter element in communication with thedraw end of the cigarette, blends of tobaccos containing a higherquantity of tars and nicotine may be used as tobacco fillers, whereinthe filter serves to remove at least some of the deleterious substancesproduced by the oxidation of tobacco. However, use of filters, as such,have not been entirely satisfactory in that a portion of the deleterioussubstances are passed through the filter to the smoker and the smoke isstill of reduced quality and taste.

The present invention is directed to a cigarette which permits the useof a blend of tobaccos having a substantially reduced quantity of tarsand nicotine in the combustible portion of the tobacco filler incombination with a flavored blend of tobaccos in the section of thecigarette which is adjacent the draw end to enhance the flavor of thesmoke extracted therefrom. The smoke is drawn through the flavoredtobacco, improving the taste thereof without the usual hazards resultingfrom smoking a cigarette having a high nicotine and tar content. Meansare provided to automatically extinguish the cigarette as the point ofcombustion approaches the flavored blend of tobaccos adjacent the drawend, ensuring that the tobaccos containing a high content of tars andnicotine will not be oxidized.

Thus, the present invention permits use of a reduced tar and nicotinetobacco filler at the oxidation point of the cigarette without reducingthe quality and taste of the smoke extracted therefrom and withoutrequiring the use of a filter element, as now known, to eliminatedeleterious by-products of combustion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention utilizes a plurality oftobacco fillers disposed in the elongate, tubular wrapper of a cigarettewith an inert, noncombustible, porous element interposed between thefillers to extinguish a burning cigarette once the filler adjacent theouter end of the cigarette has been consumed.

The tobacco filler adjacent the outerend of the cigarette comprises ablend of tobaccos from which the tars, nicotine and other deleterioussubstances have been substantially, if not completely removed. Adjacentthe first tobacco filler is an inert, noncombustible, porous, andgenerally inorganic element which is capable of extinguishing the fireof a burning cigarette. The inert element also serves as a filter forreducing the remaining deleterious substances in the smoke produced byoxidation of the tobacco. The inert element is followed by a secondtobacco filler constituting a blend of tobaccos which may inherentlycontain substances such as tar producers, nicotine and other substanceswhich have been removed from the first tobacco filler and, wheredesired, may include additionally various flavoring substances such as,by way of example, menthol, mint or the like. The subject cigarette isadapted to enable a smoker to enjoy the taste and pleasure of aconventional cigarette, i.e., a non-filter type, wherein the smokeentering the mouth of the smoker is substantially free from thedeleterious by-products caused by oxidation of tobaccos high in tars andnicotine.

The presence of the noncombustible, inert, porous element intermediatethe tobacco fillers of the cigarette effectively prevents the cigarettefrom burning beyond the first tobacco filler, ensuring oxidation of onlythe tobacco from which some tar producing substances, nicotine and otherdeleterious substances have been substantially removed.

One form of the invention provides for a crinkle-foil filter or the likeintermediate the second tobacco ller and the inert element, cooling thesmoke as it enters the draw end of the cigarette.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of acigarette incorporating the features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustrating indetail the various sections of the cigarette.

FIG. 3 illustrates the cigarette of FIGS. 1 and 2 after the firsttobacco filler has been consumed and the cigarette has beenextinguished.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating a modification of thecigarette of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating the cigarette of FIG. 4 after the firsttobacco filler has been consumed and the cigarette has beenextinguished.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The cigarette incorporating thefeatures of the present invention, generally denoted 10, is illustratedin perspective in FIG. 1. An elongate, open-ended, tubular wrapper 12defines the outer periphery, the outer end 20 and the draw end 22 of thecigarette. A first tobacco filler 14 is contained within the elongatewrapper 12 adjacent outer end 20 of the cigarette and comprises a blendof tobaccos having a reduced amount of nicotine and tar producingsubstances and various other deleterious substances which have beenremoved by various cleansing processes such as, by way of example,passing the tobaccos through particular solvents such as alcohol,alcohol-naphtha, or the like, which remove some of the tar producingsubstances and nicotine effectively without leaving a residual odor orresidue. An inert, noncombustble, porous element 16 is disposed withinwrapper 12 transversely spanning the interior thereof and in contactingrelationship with end 15 of the first tobacco filler. The inert element16 generally comprises a siliceous material or the like which will notsupport combustion. Uniformly suitable results have been obtained withan inert element comprising a plug of diatomaceous earth packed in sucha manner as to provide a porous barrier at the end l of the tobaccofiller, allowing free passage of smoke therethrough, as indicated byarrow A, but preventing combustion beyond end of the filler 14. A secondtobacco filler 18 isfcontained in wrapper l2 intermediate end 17 of thej inert element 16 and the draw end 22 of the cigarette and comprises ablend of tobaccos which may contain the various tars, nicotine, andother substances generally found in untreated or pure tobaccos. When thecigarette is ignited at outer end 20 thereof, a fire is generated at 21oxidizing the tobaccos in the first filler section creating ash 24 andproducing smoke A which is drawn from the cigarette through draw end 22.The smoke passes through inert element 16 and second filler 18 andabsorbs the flavoring of the tobaccos contained therein, as indicated byarrow B. Thus, the smoke has the taste of a blend of tobaccos having thevarious tar formers, nicotine and other substances which heretofore mayhave been removed from tobacco fille-rs. Where desired, variousflavoring substances such as mint, menthol or the like may be added totobacco filler 18, further enhancing the flavor of smoke B.

Theiflavor and quality of the cigarette of the present inventioncorresponds generally to the taste and texture of a normal, unfilteredcigarette having a blend of tobaccos which contain tar formingsubstances and nicotine but reduces the deleterious effect generally resulting from use of such tobaccos without requiring the use of filteringelements as now known. Inert element 16 ensures that the tobaccoscontaining tars, nicotine and other deleterious substances are notinadvertently oxidized. As illustrated, fire 21 oxidizes the tobacco infirst filler 14, effectively reducing the tobacco to ash 24 until thefire 2l reaches end 15 of filler 14. Once the fire has reached end 15,inert element 16 will not support further combustion and the cigaretteis automatically extinguished, see FIG. 3.

A modification of the cigarette of the present invention is illustratedin FIGS. 4 and 5 wherein a crinkle-foil heat sink 26 such as, by way ofexample, a strip of crinkled aluminum foil or the like is wrapped in aspiral about the axis of the cigarette. The crinkle-foil filtersubstantially spans the interior of wrapper 12 and is disposedintermediate second tobacco filler 18 and inert element 16, providingmeans for further filtering and cooling smoke A as it passed from thefirst filler 14 to the second filler 18, producing cooled, flavoredsmoke C. The cigarette of FIG. 4 has the self-extinguishing featureincorporated in the cigarette of FIGS. l and 2, see FIG. 5.

It is desirable to provide means marking the outer and draw ends of thecigarette to ensure that only the outer end of the cigarette is ignited.Suitable identification may be provided by simply marking the outsidesurface of tubular wrapper l2. One manner in which this may beaccomplished is illustrated in phantom in FIG. 1, wherein an enlargedmouthpiece 28 is disposed in circumscribing relationship with tubularwrapper 12 adjacent the drawv end of the cigarette. Various other meansfor identifying the ends of the cigarette may be utilized withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.. j

While the inert element 16 may be placed at any predetermined pointalong the length of tubular wrapper l2, it has been found that thedeleterious effects of smoking may be substantially reduced byextinguishing the cigarette at an early stage of combustion, reducingthe heatat the draw end thereof. Therefore, the first tobacco fillergenerally comprises from f to 2/3 of the entire length of the cigarette.It should be understood this ratio of filler lengths is not to beconsidered a limiting feature of the invention.

While certain embodiments of the present invention have been illustratedin detail, it should be understood such is merely illustrative and notintended to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A multi-sectioned cigarette comprising an elongate, open-ended,tubular wrapper defining an outer end and a draw end of the cigarette; afirst tobacco filler contained in said wrapper adjacent the outer end ofthe cigarette comprising a blend of solvent extracted natural tobaccoshavinga reduced amount of tar producing substances and nicotine andextending the major portion of the overall length of the wrapper; asecond tobacco filler contained in said wrapper adjacent the draw end ofthe cigarette comprising a blend of flavored tobaccos; an inert,noncombustble, porous element of diatomaceous earth transverselyspanning the interior of the tubular wrapper between said first andsecond tobacco fillers; a heat-sink element transversely spanning theinterior of the tubular wrapper between the said noncombustble elementand the said second tobacco filler, said heat-sink element comprising aroll of crinkled, metal foil; and means on the outer periphery of thewrapper to identify the draw end and the outer end thereof, said meanscomprising a hollow, elongate, open-ended, tubular mouthpiececircumscribing the outer periphery of kthe wrapper adjacent the draw endof the cigarette.

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1. A MULTI-SECTIONED CIGARETTE COMPRISING AN ELONGATE OPEN-ENDED,TUBULAR WRAPPER DEFINING AN OUTER END A DRAW END OF THE CIGARETTE, AFIRST TOBACCO FILLER CONTAINED IN SAID WRAPPER ADJACENT THE OUTER END OFTHE CIGARETTE COMPRISING A BLEND OF SOLVENT EXTRACTED NATURAL TOBACCOSHAVING A REDUCED AMOUNT OF TAR PRODUCING SUBSTANCES AND NICOTINE ANDEXTENDING THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE OVERALL LENGTH OF THE WRAPPER, ASECOND TOBACCO FILLER CONTAINED IN SAID WRAPPER ADJACENT THE DRAW END OFTHE CIGARETTE COMPRISING A BLEND OF FLAVORED TOBACCOS , AN INERT,NONCOMBUSTIBLE, POROUS ELEMENT OF DIATOMACEOUS EARTH TRANSVERSELYSPANNING THE INTERIOR OF THE TUBULAR WRAPPER BETWEEN SAID FIRST ANDSECOND TOBACCO FILLERS, A HEAT-SINK ELEMENT TRANSVERSELY SPANNING THEINTERIOR OF THE TUBULAR WRAPPER BETWEEN THE SAID NONCOMBUSTIBLE ELEMENTAND THE SAID SECOND TABACCO FILLER, SAID HEAT-SINK ELEMENT COMPRISING AROLL OF CRINKLED, METAL FOIL, AND MEANS ON THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THEWRAPPER TO INDENTIFY THE DRAW END AND THE OUTER END THEREOF, SAID MEANSCOMPRISING A HOLLOW ELONGATE, OPEN-ENDED, TUBULAR MOUTHPIECECIRCUMSCRIBING THE OUTER PERIPHERY OF THE WRAPPER ADDJACENT THE DRAW ENDOF THE CIGARETTE.